"Its a very nicely executed freemium title that offers a ton of gameplay without having to purchase in-app upgrades. Baseball fans will love it." (4/5 Stars) -148apps.com

iPhone Game of the Week - App Store

Step up to the plate for the best baseball experience on the App Store, now looking better than ever before in crisp HD! The sky's the limit with level restrictions unlocked, upgraded batting and pitching moves, endless customization, new super players and more play modes. Whether managing a team to the championship or training a rookie to the Hall of Fame, you're in control of it all.

Join the series that's been downloaded over 30 million times by players worldwide with Baseball Superstars® 2012!

BASEBALL IN CRYSTAL-CLEAR HD See more, play better Enhanced details and clarity make an eye-opening ballgame optimized for Retina displays.

the graphics + story look like great improvements. i do hope the game is as good..

with the free tag, expect hardcore IAP. gamevil is known for it so i'm not gonna be surprised at all

Yeah, but they've managed to walk a line Gameloft long since plunged off. Zenonia 4 is supremely playable without spending a dollar (though the lack of inventory slots is annoying), and the full versions of previous Baseball Superstars games were all complete games, playable and enjoyable from beginning to end, in spite of the IAP.

Vocalist of Earthbridge and Neverlast
Game Center/OpenFeint/Plus+/[insert arbitrary game network, online character or multiplayer account here]: Ayjona

Yeah, but they've managed to walk a line Gameloft long since plunged off. Zenonia 4 is supremely playable without spending a dollar (though the lack of inventory slots is annoying), and the full versions of previous Baseball Superstars games were all complete games, playable and enjoyable from beginning to end, in spite of the IAP.

Yeah I'll agree with that. Gameloft is definitely the biggest rip off in terms of IAP. i'm sure every company dreams of doing what they do.. becoming big then pure freemium all the way.. lol

I've only tried a few test runs, so exhibit some good judgement and don't take my words as fact and absolute truth , but so far, for someone who liked the last few iterations of the series, Baseball Superstars 2010 seems just excellent. Much like Zenonia 4 was a splendid evolution of the Zenonia series (at least graphically ), but with even less forceful IAP, and far more changes and improvements to basic mechanics.

It is prettier than ever (actually, very, VERY pretty, with bright colors, nice character designs, and a large, vibrant town map for the "My" adventure modes), and there are actually quite a few new mechanics and systems this time around:

There are "smart" (as in more advanced) batting and pitching modes, in the case of pitching a system of gestures that allows for greater precision in throws, and in the case of batting, durned-annoying tilt controls. Luckily, the player can choose to use the old or new modes for either system, meaning that smart pitching can be combined with classic batting (for those who find tilt controls bothersome, a group to which I belong). Also, the on-screen buttons are customizable, and can be positioned anywhere on screen.

There are also skill trees that are unlocked through skill points, with a limited number of skills that can be equipped at one time, encouraging the player to combine different skills. The equippable titles from Zenonia 4 make an appearance, in the form of Nicknames.

The "My Batter" and "My Pitcher" modes might (as I can't quite recall which of these features might have been present in previous iterations) have been expanded, possibly with more locations to visit, and more auxiliary and secondary mechanics and systems (special challenges, trivias, tarot readings, injuries, etc).

So far, the IAP is none too forceful. As far as I can tell, it is much the same as in Baseball Superstars 2, used mostly for quicker progression and cheat-like options, never required for gameplay. The normal equipment categories in the shop have no items that require real world money/IAP currency, and G points, the IAP currency, can be acquired in LOTS of ways in-game.

As an illustration of the leniency of the IAP, some of the cheaper slightly cheat-like items (permanent stat boosts) bought for G points costs 100 g points. Succeeding at the first mission in the mission system earned me 50 G, and redoing the same mission earned me another 30. That's less than two minutes of play to earn enough G points to buy a cheap IAP currency item. Even the most expensive G point items (costumes that grant permanent stat boosts) can probably be bought after just a few hours of play, perhaps even less. It seems that there might be a near-infinite source of G points in just playing the game.

There might be stuff that have been lost from the last Baseball Superstars, but I am hard-pressed to spot it so far, and the game most certainly does not feel watered down or simplified, but the opposite, and not just in a small way. If not big, then at least clearly noticeable, and with a tangible effect on gameplay.

The result is, at least after a superficial examination, the best version of Baseball Superstars yet, and perhaps one of the greatest leaps between iterations so far.

Vocalist of Earthbridge and Neverlast
Game Center/OpenFeint/Plus+/[insert arbitrary game network, online character or multiplayer account here]: Ayjona

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between the BS II series and the BS 1* series. What is this, Call of Duty? Surely it hasn't been a year since BS II came out, has it? (checking...yeah, came out in June).

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